This course is intended for students who wish to consolidate communication skills at the intermediate high to advanced level.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Prerequisites: 01:420:132/137, placement FFW or special permission (
Course Description: This course develops communication skills in French at the advanced level via the examination of some famous criminal cases and court trials that have marked France’s cultural heritage and laws. Authentic materials such as news segments, films, and literary and journalistic excerpts serve as the starting point for grammar review, vocabulary development, and discussion of such critical contemporary issues as gender, ability, race, reproductive rights, the death penalty, and police brutality.
Course URL - Canvas
Satisfies SAS Core Learning Goals - AHq (Understand the nature of the French language and its speakers)
Course Learning Goals (aligned with Department Learning Goals)
- Communicate complex ideas effectively, in standard written and oral French (Intermediate-High), to a general audience
- Cultural Awareness: Understand the diversity of cultural expression in French, in relation to specific historical, political, and social contexts, from the Renaissance to the contemporary period
- Critical Thinking and Interpretive Skills: Analyze oral, print, film, and digital cultural production in French
Exams, Assignments, and Grading Policy
Students will demonstrate the achievement of learning goals, weekly via class discussion and written assignments; and at regular intervals throughout the semester via short essays and oral and/or video presentations.
Course Materials
Denise Rochat, Contrastes Grammaire du français courant. Second Edition. ISBN : 0-205-64699-9
Readings, worksheets, audio and visual material to be downloaded from Canvas
